Chapter 10

Space is big, very big. And empty, and dark. If you don't have the luxury of a nearby star to provide warmth and heat, it is perhaps one of the coldest, loneliest and most depressing places in the universe. Through a particular piece of void floated a disabled ship, slowly turning about its axis, its engines dead and its power failing intermittently.

"Bloody hell...I pilot this sad excuse for a ship, only for one trouble after another! Where is that frelling wrench?! Most military craft are fine, but this is pathetic! Does anything work?"

The ship's engine had completely stalled, stranding them in the middle of space, drifting in the void among the stars. Zac's destination was still parsecs away, and there'd been regular encounters with people who had, just a few hours ago been on his side. If it wasn't for the clearance codes he'd managed to hack from the main systems,he would have long ago been taken captive. If they were caught out here, he'd have no chance, protocol called for any disabled ships to be accompanied back to the nearest base for repairs. He wondered if his passenger was worried, or if she was even consious; there was certainly something about the cramped airless environment of a failing ship that put him on edge.

Whoever had employed her had to be desperate; she could barely be sixteen, and someone like her shouldn't be allowed into any military operation. Of course he had been...still was fourteen himself physically, anyway, but he was a special case, he'd proven that. But as far as he could tell his companion was nothing special, just some girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now she'd suffer for it. Who knew what she was doing anyway? Most likely she'd just been temped in as an administrator, a cushy management job or just general help, by the look of her she could be cleaning staff. Zac sighed, whenever something bad happened it was the innocent that suffered. At least she'd managed to break open the door, or they'd've never got away.

Of course he could've just left her and got away by himself, the thought hung at the back of his mind like a guilty secret. She would have probably been alright, probably. But you couldn't just leave people, at least, not him. Zac cursed and whacked the engine. He had to stay focused (-)! He hated getting off task, and hated comparing himself to his brother.

Slowly the engine hummed into life, righting the ship and resuming its course. Zac straightened up and emerged from the engine compartment, catching a glimpse of himself in one of the access panels. He was a mess; covered with oil, sweat, blood, shards of glass... That was the price of action; say what you will about having an adventure, but he'd had to leave his friends, his troop behind, and of course regular brushes with death. Dam, he really had to concentrate, letting his mind wander like this wasn't doing anyone any good.

Zac dusted himself off and leapt down to where his new companion sat slouched in her chair and sighed deeply. She hadn't been very smart, that was for sure, why on earth did she do it? Of course there had been some trouble with he was nearly as popular as his brother, while he was looking through the main system registry files he'd found that his socks had been stolen and placed on eBay. And were attracting quite a high price.

"Hey...are you feeling better? You weren't looking so good earlier. You looked like you were having a nightmare."

"Oh yes... then I realized I wasn't dreaming and you were real."

Zac stared. He was dreadfully uncomfortable with the awkward silence between them, the girl seemed to radiate cold displeasure. Something clicked in his mind, thoughts falling over each other like a row of dominoes. But that couldn't be right; she didn't act anything like them. Sure she'd been rather feisty earlier, but no... it didn't matter. The one he was thinking of was stuck in an asylum somewhere, hopefully for good.

"You...er...must've been pretty well trained to have smashed through that window so easily. I would've struggled to do that, but you did know I wouldn't be much help if you stuffed up? Don't you know you would have bled to death?"

"I know what I'm doing thank you. And I wouldn't have been any help if you'd got your butt kicked by those nutcases in there."

The response was cold and curt; whoever she was, she wasn't happy and wasn't afraid to show it. Zac wondered what to do next; she seemed to be blaming him for this predicament, which really wasn't fair.

"Listen. I know that this isn't exactly what you'd be used to, but trust me, if you want to leave once we arrive, go ahead. There should be a few ships at our destination when we arrive. I'd advise you don't, though. The military would be hunting both of us down, and you'd be throwing your life away." Zac calmly said.

"No kidding, and I can't help but think somehow it's all your fault. I knew I *knew* this day was going to hell the instant I heard your name. Hey, let's see if there's any way you can make this worse huh? Hmmn... no, I think you've managed to do the amazing feat of getting me into an almost unimaginably terrible situation in just a few hours. I suppose I should be grateful."

"That's unfair! I didn't know this was going to happen anymore than you did. All we can do is try and make the best of a bad situation. And to do that, we certainly shouldn't be squabbling. Perhaps we can just start this all over? I'm Zac, what's your name?"

The girl sighed and angrily whacked a monitor. Surprisingly, it cracked.

"My name... my name is-"



* * *

"Will you stop being so afraid? It's just a little water; it's no big deal! What do you think will happen? It'll jump up and drown you?"

Joshua sighed. Of COUSRE Seb was capable of swimming, for about 20 seconds anyway. If there was one big weakness Seb had, it was that he couldn't stay in contact with water for long periods without sustaining physical damage, something that made baths a strange affair indeed. He floated like a lead submarine and since Saurpeth was a kingdom noted for its large and tranquil lakes, babbling brooks, pristine rivers and gushing waterfalls, Seb was unlikely to leave the J-Wing.

"...Stay here, then. Make sure that the girl doesn't start crying again. You'll be piloting the J-Wing if you don't see me when the others come on board...Adis...as much as I'm not going to enjoy this, you'll have to come with me..." Joshua sighed, aware of what was most likely going to happen.

>I know both of them are here...Sugar let Dinah stay at the castle...I'm just hoping that things don't go as bad as I'm thinking...< Joshua thought, before stepping out of the ship, Adis next to him.

Two guards stood near the huge doors to the castle. Both had dark blue hair and eyes, dressed in a brown and black outfit with spears leaning onto the doorframe nearby. They had the slightly vacant look of large men everywhere whose jobs consist of standing in one place for hours on end for now real reason. Mental dexterity was not a prerequisite for employment, though good bladder control was. They seemed to know who Joshua was, and after only a few minutes of conversation he had managed to obtain a short list of directions for navigating the labyrinthine depths of the castle before them. Joshua had known what to expect; even from the outside it was impressive, but as he thanked the guards and motioned Adis inside she let out a huge gasp of wonder.

"It... it's enormous..."
***